1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to an information handling system and in particular to a modular, expandable rack-based information handling system and design.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system (IHS) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Large scale information handling systems, as utilized within data centers, are often designed in a rack configuration, having one or more servers and/or banks of storage physically located within a single rack chassis. The number of servers and thus the computing power that can be placed in these rack chassis is limited by the maximum height of the rack chassis. A large number of the conventional rack chassis are built to conform to a specific industry height, which is based in part on the desire of the various manufacturers to be able to move the racks through a minimum door size of a data center facility or to fit vertically upright within a facility having a minimum vertical clearance. Thus, for uniformity, most racks are built to a standard height to accommodate use in the lowest ceiling heights in which the racks are deployed. However, in many applications, the vertical heights of the doorway at the data center can be much lower than the ceiling height of the actual data center. Customers who desire larger computing capabilities than is provided within a single rack are forced to purchase two such racks and fit them within the allocated space, often side-by-side. These racks are individual computing systems that then have to be physically configured for use with each other. Conversely, customers who only desire a smaller number of servers within some sort of rack chassis structure are forced to purchase and full height rack chassis and fill only some of the bays with servers, leaving the remainder of the chassis empty.